Sooner Than Expected
by TerribleWaitress
Summary: Leonard returns home from his work trip to the North Sea.


**A/N - One has returned from vacay! A week away does wonders. Anyway, I wrote this at the airport before my flight to leave for my holiday because it just formed in my mind whilst I sat in Starbucks. Now, WeBuiltThePyramids recently wrote one along a similar line, and it was just amazing, but I thought I'd publish this anyway... I'm too lazy to unpack and UK weather sucks. Enjoy! :) **

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The second she saw Leonard, Penny rushed to the end of the 'Arrivals' barrier, her heart beating wildly and a grin splitting across her face. Practically jumping up and down, she watched as he began to walk faster, his grin matching hers. She held out her arms, unable to decide if she wanted to hold his face, his body, his hands, just wanting to hold _him_.

Leonard dropped his bags the second he was close enough to reach her, and Penny threw herself at him as he held out his arms. His mouth met hers and they both clung to each other that much tighter, savoring the contact and feeling of each other that they hadn't had for four months. His hands held her back, while hers linked around his neck, pressing themselves against each other as much as was possible.

"I love you, I love you, _I love you_," Penny whispered into his mouth, the words rushing out as though she had been waiting the whole four months to say them. "I love you."

He managed to return "I love you too, Penny," before her mouth crashed onto his again.

Penny curled her fingers into his hair, relishing the fact that she could do this again. His hands rubbed her back gently. They both had missed every little thing about each other; getting to physically feel each other, right there, was the most wonderful feeling.

It wasn't until Leonard moved a hand up to Penny's face that he realized she was crying. He pulled back slowly, keeping one hand on her back, the other holding her cheek gently. "What's wrong?"

"Don't ever, _ever_, leave me again," Penny said shakily, her bottom lip trembling. "Please. Ever. Promise me."

"I promise," Leonard gave her a smile that melted her heart all over again. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Don't ever let me go away for so long again, without you."

"I won't," Penny shook her head. "I promise."

"Pinky swear?" Leonard held out his pinkie.

Penny giggled through her tears, linking her pinkie with his. "Pinkie swear." She grinned as she leant into him again. "Let's go home, Leonard."

She took hold of Leonard's suitcase in one hand, and took his hand in her other hand. They left the airport, not once looking back, simply determined to make up for four months without each other. Penny hauled his bags into the boot of her car, and they set off home with smiles on their faces. She caught him up on the latest happenings at work and with their friends, at Leonard's request, before he began to tell her all about his trip. Although she had heard all about it every day when they called and Skype'd each other, him saying it to her, while he was right next to her, made it all the more interesting. Just hearing his voice properly was making her happier than she had been in a long time.

"So I was trying to work out, for like _five _hours, why all our results had returned abnormal - completely different to the day before! I knew there was _something _wrong, but-"

"Marry me." Penny blurted out, her head turning quickly from the almost empty motorway to look at him. Her face held an almost stunned expression, which she held as she turned back to watch the road.

"Wh... what?"

"Marry me." Penny repeated. "I'm asking you to marry me. I want you to marry me."

"Wow," Leonard gulped.

"Oh, God, that was... okay, I-I didn't... no, I _did_ - I _do _want you to marry me. But I wasn't going to ask you yet. I thought about it a bit when you were gone but I was going to give it more time, and do it properly, I didn't know I was ready _yet _because it's so scary but it was scarier when you left to go on this trip and... what I'm trying to say is... oh, _God_, I'm so bad at this. What I'm trying to say is that I didn't think I was ready but I am, now that you're here with me I know I am ready, and I do, I do want to marry you, Leonard. I want you to be my husband. I want to be your wife."

"Penny-"

"I mean, I was going to wait a few more months to try get over being so scared of this, and do it properly, but if you managed to promise to no longer propose even though that's what you _really _wanted, and you knew you'd have to wait, a _really _long time... then I can get over myself, and I can, I want to. I hated being apart from you and seeing you and _feeling _you, I just... I don't want to be just your girlfriend anymore. I want us to be more than that, becau-"

"Yes."

"Yes?" She turned quickly to look at him, her mouth slightly open.

"Yes, I will marry you."

"You will?" Penny's face changed into a wide smile, her eyes filling with tears.

"Yes," Leonard grinned back at her, taking her hand in his, their fingers interlocking. "And, Penny?"

"Yeah?"

"Eyes on the road,"

"Oh, yeah," Penny's head snapped back to face the road, quickly realizing that she was straddling two lanes, and moving into the middle one. "Sorry."

"That's okay," He gave her hand a firm squeeze. His heart was doing summersaults, he wanted to tell her to stop the car so he could kiss her. But from past experience, he knew he needed to give Penny a bit of space. This had come as a surprise even to her, just like her 'I love you' it had simply come out without warning. He loved that about her; behind all the closed off, commitment-phobic face, was the girl who was in love with him and ready to take a leap forward with him, without even knowing just how big a leap she was ready to take.

"So," Penny threw him a quick smile. "You were saying something about... abnormal test results?"

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**A/N - Okay-dokay, hope you enjoyed that! Hello Kitty will probably be updated late this week/early next week, when my holiday leave is officially over and I'll be staying put. Don't forget to leave a review, I love those! **


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